Why Recall Is the First Step in Snake Avoidance Training

As the weather warms up across Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills, snakes become a greater concern for dog owners. Whether you're walking through bushland, exploring a local reserve or spending time in your backyard, an unexpected snake encounter can happen very quickly.

When teaching reward-based snake avoidance, one of the first skills we focus on might surprise you. Before we introduce any snake-related scents, we start by teaching a reliable recall.

But why?

Because recall isn't just an additional safety skill. It's an important foundation for the snake avoidance behaviour we ultimately want to teach.

Why Do We Teach Recall Before Introducing Snake Scents?

The goal of our reward-based snake avoidance training is to teach dogs to recognise snake-related stimuli, disengage from them and move away rather than investigate.

Ultimately, we want dogs to learn that encountering a snake-related cue is a reason to turn away and return to their owner.

But before we can begin teaching that association, we need to establish the behaviour we want the dog to perform.

That's where recall comes in.

We start by teaching dogs that turning towards their owner and coming back is a highly rewarding experience. Through positive reinforcement, we build a strong history of success so that returning to their owner becomes a familiar and enthusiastic response. Once this foundation is established, we can begin introducing snake-related scents and sights and teaching dogs to associate those cues with the behaviour they've already learned.

Rather than trying to teach a completely new behaviour in the presence of an unfamiliar stimuli, we're building on a skill the dog already understands and enjoys.

In other words, we teach the response first, then introduce the cue that we eventually want to trigger that response.

This allows us to gradually develop the full snake avoidance behaviour without relying on fear, intimidation or punishment.

Why Recall Matters Even Before Your Dog Has Completed Snake Avoidance Training

Of course, developing a reliable snake avoidance response takes time and practice. Dogs need opportunities to learn the behaviour, build confidence and gradually generalise their training. But that doesn't mean we have to wait until they've completed the full protocol before their training becomes useful.

A strong recall is already an incredibly valuable safety skill.

Imagine you're walking your dog and notice a snake further along the path. Your dog hasn't spotted it yet and is happily sniffing their way towards it. If your dog has a reliable recall, you should be able to call them back before they get anywhere near the snake.

Or perhaps your dog suddenly becomes interested in something moving through the grass. You haven't seen what has caught their attention, but you'd rather they didn't investigate. Being able to call your dog away from something interesting, even when you don't know exactly what it is, can help prevent a potentially dangerous encounter.

And this is what makes recall such an important skill in its own right.

Your dog doesn't necessarily need to recognise a snake for you to be able to help them move away from one.

Building a Recall That Works Around Distractions

There's a big difference between a dog who comes when called in the backyard and one who can respond while exploring an exciting environment.

Dogs don't automatically generalise their training to every situation. Just because your dog comes running when you call them at home doesn't mean they'll respond as reliably when they're following an interesting scent or investigating something moving through the bushes. That's why we spend time building a strong recall before introducing snake-related cues.

We want dogs to develop a positive association with returning to their owner and learn to respond even when there are distractions around them. We do this by gradually increasing the difficulty of the training, rewarding successful responses and making sure the dog is confident with each step before moving on. Importantly, we never want to put dogs in situations where they are likely to fail simply to test whether their recall works.

And even with extensive training, no recall is 100% reliable. Keeping dogs on lead in snake-prone environments remains an important safety precaution.

Putting the Pieces Together

Once a dog has developed a strong recall, we can begin incorporating snake-related scents and sights into their training.

At Paws & Reward, we use snake sheds and 3D printed snakes rather than live snakes, allowing dogs to learn in a controlled environment without deliberately exposing them to the danger of a live snake.

Through carefully structured, reward-based training, we aim to teach dogs that detecting a snake-related scent and sight is a cue to disengage, turn away and return to their owner. Over time, the aim is for this response to become increasingly familiar, so the dog can make the choice to move away without needing to be called.

However, it's important to recognise that training with snake sheds and 3D printed snakes cannot fully replicate an encounter with a live snake. No snake avoidance training method can guarantee that a dog will respond appropriately in every situation. That's why recall, supervision and sensible management remain important throughout your dog's training and beyond.

Start With the Foundations

One of the things we love about reward-based snake avoidance training is that we're not simply teaching dogs what to avoid. We're teaching them what we'd like them to do instead.

And that starts with a skill that has so many benefits beyond snake safety: coming back when called.

Whether your dog is just beginning their snake avoidance training or has already learned to respond to snake-related cues, a reliable recall is an important part of helping them stay safe.

At Paws & Reward, our Rapid Recall course helps dogs develop a stronger, more enthusiastic response to their recall cue, while our Snake Aware training builds on these foundations to introduce snake-related cues and teach dogs to move away.

Because when it comes to snake avoidance, we want our dogs to know exactly what to do when they encounter potential danger — and that learning starts long before we introduce a snake scent.